YouTube TV will drop the Tennis Channel on Monday, according to a note sent to customers and received by The Desk.
The move comes after the Google-backed streaming pay TV service dropped nearly two dozen regional Fox Sports-branded channels that were owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group, which also owns and operates the Tennis Channel.
In a note sent to customers, YouTube TV said its agreement with Sinclair to carry the Tennis Channel expires at 11 p.m. Eastern time on Monday. The wording of the note suggested there were no efforts to continue carrying the channel and that it not likely return in the future.
The company said customers will lose access to live content distributed by the Tennis Channel as well as any shows or matches that were recorded in their cloud DVR.
The full message from YouTube TV appears below:
We’re writing to let you know that our agreement with the Tennis Channel has expired.
Starting November 30, 2020, at 11 pm ET, the Tennis Channel will no longer be made available for distribution on YouTube TV. This means that you will no longer be able to watch that channel live or access any content that you have recorded from the Tennis Channel.
We regret the inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your membership.
In early October, YouTube TV removed nearly two dozen Fox Sports-branded channels operated by Sinclair as well as the baseball-centric YES Network after its temporary agreement to carry the channels lapsed. The removal followed months of negotiations between YouTube TV and Sinclair over distribution rights for the channels.
YouTube TV did not reduce its base subscription price of $65 a month after dropping the Fox Sports-branded channels, and it is not expected to lower fees for customers when the Tennis channel disappears Monday evening.
